1. Field
The invention relates to appraisal reports and scores. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for validating an appraisal report and providing an appraisal score.
2. Related Art
Generally, an appraiser attempts to judge the value of a given real estate property using a variety of objective and subjective characteristics of the property. Some exemplary objective characteristics may include without limitation the location of the property, the size of the property, and the square footage of any structures on the property. A typical appraisal involves selecting recently-sold properties having characteristics similar to those of the subject property and using the recent sales prices of these “comparable” properties to set a value for the subject property.
The appraiser may write down the appraisal data for the objective characteristics of the property on an appraisal form. The appraiser may accidentally or intentionally write down incorrect appraisal data on the appraisal form. For example, the appraiser may try to increase the appraised value of the subject property by writing down an additional bathroom or bedroom or increasing the square footage. If a portion of the appraisal data is incorrect, the appraisal value of the subject property and the selected comparable properties may be inaccurate or incorrect. Obtaining reliable appraisal data is important to valuing a property and determining comparable properties. In addition, the appraisal of a property can vary dramatically among different appraisers and even with the same appraiser on different days. Furthermore, existing approaches have been ineffective in automating the appraisal process so that clients can identify discrepancies in appraisal reports and flag failed appraisal reports.